Fighting, Flirting - Same Thing
by Rune71
Summary: Piper explains to a new camper that no, Percy and Annabeth are not actually trying to kill each other.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.**

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Piper was _so_ bored. Jason had stuff to do (he was practicing flying or something) and Leo was still busy cleaning out Bunker 9. All the other Aphrodite campers were gossipping - something about the top ten couples in camp. She heard bits and pieces of it - apparently Percy and Annabeth were pretty popular. She thought back to the trip a few months ago, and decided that they were a pretty cute couple. She wondered what they were doing now, and then thought that maybe she didn't really want to know. She got up off the grass, and dusted off her jeans. She was going to wander around camp until she found something to do.

The archery fields were being occupied. Chiron was teaching a class, mostly campers under the age of ten. None of them looked like they were older than twelve. It would be pretty awkward if she joined them. So. Archery was out.

The rock climbing wall was out of order. It looked fine to her, like any other rock wall. Except then she remembered that it usually shook and dumped lava on slow climbers. Training so dangerous seemed a little too risky to enjoy.

There was nobody at the mess hall. She didn't know why she even looked there, lunch had been over two hours ago and dinner was still three hours away.

She looked at the volleyball pit - nobody. The basketball court had been taken over the Apollo kids, giving them an automatic win due to their uncanny aim, so it wasn't even worth playing. The lake had some people in canoes, but the docks were clear.

She finally went down to the sparring ring. Maybe Annabeth could teach her some real knife tricks to use in a fight.

As she approached, she heard the clash of blade on blade. There were quite a few campers standing around, and she wondered what was going on. She pushed her way towards the commotion. She saw a flash of blonde hair, and then black. Of course. It was Percy and Annabeth. They must have arrived that first few spars they had were always fun to watch, especially for the new campers, because they both were exceptionally skilled. She smirked.

They were trash-talking each other as they fought. Not really insulting, per say... more like bickering, which was their way of flirting. It got quite heated sometimes too. Their conversation right then was particularly entertaining.

"That the best you got, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth taunted.

"You wish! Just wait, I'm gonna show you what a real swordsman can do!"

Piper felt someone poke her arm. She looked down and saw a younger camper, probably around thirteen. "Do they actually hate each other? They keep saying stuff like that."

Piper knew he must have been a more recent arrival. Nobody who had been there any length of time wouldn't know about Annabeth and Percy.

"No," she responded, smiling. "Just wait and see, they have an interesting relationship."

The kid and Piper both turned to the fight, interested on what was happening at the moment.

"Have you forgotten that I neither use a sword, nor am I a man?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, the first one, maybe. The second one, definitely not…." Percy gave her a sly grin.

Despite being already a little red from the physical effort, Annabeth's face grew slightly redder.

"Your technique is sloppy." She said, obviously (from Piper's point of view) trying to ignore the previous statement. However, Percy wasn't about to give up that quickly.

"Oh yeah?" I guess I'll just have to keep... _sparring_... with you in order to refine it." He said, smirking.

It was just a moment, but Annabeth faltered. Percy saw it and took advantage. He disarmed her, the sword she held dropping to the ground, impacting the dirt. Both of them panted as they stood a moment, his sword still pointing in the direction of her head. She rolled her eyes.

"Put your sword away, Seaweed Brain. No need to be so dramatic."

Percy touched the cap to the end of his blade and grinned. "That was fun!" He exclaimed as Annabeth went to pick up the fallen sword, his eyes trailing her movements. She straightened and turned around to find him just behind her. She made a face. "Go take a shower, you stink."

He just laughed and walked off.

Piper turned to the younger camper standing next to her. "See?" She prompted. "That's just how they flirt."

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 **A/N: I wrote this forever ago, just found it on my OneDrive in some obscure folder and decided to post it.**


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